Knock 'em out
by forgetspecifics
Summary: A monkey, a cat, and a dragon walk into a bar… (Slight AU)


**A/N:** this is just a little something something I pulled outta my gay ass while listening to Lily Allen (you can tell if you know the song)

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Blake notices the woman at the bar when her face starts sinking. It's not that she _didn't_ notice her before, because there was little chance someone like that could sit in a room undetected. It was just that the face stood out when it wore a frown – it didn't seem right.

Over in the moderately lit area; where patrons sat at stools while the bartender mixed and poured with practice, her face held a grimace as the empty seat next to her was taken by a member of the male population. Judging by her expression alone, the woman did not welcome him, and judging by the conversation – though it was a stretch to call her clipped tone and resistance to answer _conversational_ – she was definitely being bothered by his presence.

But, Blake only _knew_ that because she was eavesdropping; Faunus ears picking up the exchange between the pushy man and the perturbed woman amongst the chatter, drone of televisions, and occasional yells in the nondescript lounge.

"Hey! Blake?" A hand waved in front of her face, too close her for liking. "You're not even listening to me!"

Sitting across from Blake at the tiny booth shrouded in the shadows was her friend, fellow Faunus Sun Wukong. Though they were entirely different; a reserved cat and a boisterous monkey, here they were. She would blame him for that. According to Sun, Blake had spent too much time alone for her own good.

She respectfully disagreed. Sometimes it was just better for some people to be alone. She would bargain that the woman at the bar would say the same thing.

Apparently, she hadn't realised she was staring at said woman even after Sun had interrupted her concentration, because now, his head was turned to follow her gaze. A small whistle followed soon after.

"She's hot," he commented. "Blondes have the most fun, y'know."

He raised his hands in surrender as Blake glowered at him. After all her teaching, he still lacked boundaries. The woman was most likely already being preyed upon, and now her own friend spoke about the stranger like the only thing she was good for was her looks?

He'd never been good with words. Her amber eyes rolled in a familiarity she could only associate with Sun. "Is that all you ever think about?"

"What, fun? Or sex?" His grin did nothing to quell her irritation.

"It was rhetorical," she dismissed his counter-questions with exasperation, holding her tongue so she wouldn't outright snap at him. "She's not just something to look at."

"Jeez," one of his fair brows raised in scrutiny. "You need to get laid, Blake."

Her glare only deepened. "Shut up, Sun," she retorted lamely. She couldn't deny that he was right, but she _could_ tell him to be quiet. He knew it, too.

"Seriously! Why do you think I got you out here? It wasn't to hang out, even though you're always a _riot_."

And here she was thinking that he was just taking pity on her anti-social ass. "You brought me here to find me a one-night stand?"

"Ding ding ding!" He flung his muscular arms up in mock celebration.

Frankly, she would have better options at a library than a dingey bar. In fact, she would much prefer a library. "No thank-you."

"Aw, c'mon, let loose!" He thumbed over his shoulder towards the woman he'd complimented earlier. "You were making eyes at her, why don't you go talk to her?"

"I wasn't making eyes at her," Blake muttered, looking back over to the blonde that was still fighting a losing battle with mister persistent. If Blake was honest, she didn't look like her type. Well, she didn't look like _the_ type. The female inclined type. Women like that; gorgeously attractive pictures of perfect, they were hardly ever looking for much more than a drunken experiment.

For someone as challenged as herself, an experiment sounded just as good as a one night stand, but there was no way she'd ever initiate something like that. She focused her hearing again; honing in on a particularly sickeningly pathetic display of desperation even she could not achieve at her lowest point. The man was practically whining.

 _"Well, you can't stop me sitting here. I'll just keep bugging you till I win you over."_

 _"Are you stupid, or just a little slow? Go away."_

 _"Sorry, gorgeous, I can't go home. Not unless it's with you."_

 _"Nah. Not gonna happen. Not in a million years."_

Oh. The woman wanted to be alone.

"She's not looking for company," she told Sun, turning back to him, but still half-listening to the struggles not too far away.

"You're spying on her," he said matter-of-factly, his attention switching back to Blake briefly before he realised she wasn't going to answer him.

Blake had grown impatient with the man herself, for he was not listening to the woman's obvious requests. Somehow, he'd just gotten worse.

 _"But I really think you're great! And I wanna sit and talk with you."_

 _"I'm telling you, buddy. I'm not looking for what you're offering."_

 _"You won't find a better guy in here to consider."_

 _"I'm not considering_ any _guys. Don't take it personally."_

 _"You won't even give me a chance?"_

 _"I already told you no, sooo…it's still a nope."_

Oh, that poor woman. The guy was positively thick. Stupid _or_ slow, he had no idea. Regardless of the reason for rejection, it was basic girl-code to help out another girl when they were stuck with an over-confident annoyance. And it seriously seemed like she needed help.

"The guy won't let up. I'm gonna go save her."

Blake took a quick sip through the straw of her drink before standing up and grabbing her purse. This was the last thing she ever wanted to do, or ever thought she would do – it was just that at this rate, the woman would either be stuck with the man all night, or end up in a bad situation. The bad situation was likely worse for him, but, maybe she could salvage at least _one_ person's evening.

"Wait, what?" Sun stood too, his tail anxiously twitching behind him at his sudden nervousness. He'd never seen Blake this determined in a social situation – like, ever.

"I'm going to talk to her, like you told me to. Stay here, you'll know if I need backup," she flashed him a brief smile before sliding out of the booth with renewed vigour.

She knew exactly what to do.

Emerging from the darkness, Blake surrendered herself to the fake persona that was needed for the occasion. Her confidence only came from the information she had overheard, otherwise, she'd have had trouble making a convincing lie.

That, and the fact that the woman at the bar was now barely containing her discomfort. Or, she was about to feed the man a knuckle sandwich – either way, there was a minute tremble in her clenching fist.

Inhaling, Blake plastered an apologetic expression on her face as she approached. She closed her own hand around the blonde woman's bicep, effectively grabbing her attention.

"Babe! There you are," Blake used a sickly-sweet greeting, hoping she wasn't crossing any lines. She actually had forgotten to consider that maybe the woman wasn't single and lonely like herself. The shock was evident on the stranger's face when she turned to meet Blake. Her eyes were wide – she had purple eyes? – and her lips had formed into a perfect _o_. The man next to her mirrored that, apart from his slack jaw, looking quite undignified.

"I'm _so_ sorry I'm late! You must have been waiting here for _ever_!" It almost pained her to be so fake, so exaggerated, but hopefully her message was getting across. "You probably want to _leave_ by now." As she emphasised the word _leave_ , the man whipped his head back to the target of his affections in shock, as if he was _surprised_ at the concept that she wanted nothing to do with him.

The woman still seemed rather stunned, hardly recovering from her earlier surprise, but her voice gave off an air of relief. "I guess I could stay, for you."

"Well, it seems a bit crowded here. I saw an empty booth when I came in," Blake gestured towards where she knew Sun was watching from, happy that there was a place of refuge they could run off to - instead of tackling the impossible task of encouraging the unwanted company to leave.

The woman finally cracked a smile, pivoting in place and taking a stand from her barstool.

Upon his own seat, the excluded man complained hastily. "Wait, what? I thought you weren't considering anybody! This is a joke, right?"

"I told ya, I wasn't considering any _guys_. But her? _Definitely_ my type," there was barely a glance spared for him from the woman, who had just taken Blake's hand. "Lead the way," she said, allowing Blake to tug her away as she slipped the man a subtle parting gift with her middle finger.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Blake felt her hand being squeezed. "Oh my _god_ , thank you. You have no idea how close I was to knocking him the fuck out," she laughed, but it was a little strained.

 _Judging by the muscle in her arms, he'd have regretted ever going up to her_ , Blake thought to herself. "I had an inkling. I'd rather he goes home disappointed than to the hospital, and you staying here instead of spending the night in lockup."

"Hey, you and me both," she replied as they weaved their way back to where Blake could see the disbelief on Sun's face. Once they reached him, the woman let her hand go, her own disbelief surfacing. "Didn't you say an _empty_ booth?"

Blake shrugged, taking her place back on the wraparound couch she'd so readily left. "I lied."

The blonde woman chuckled awkwardly, no longer projecting the confidence she'd had a minute ago. "Uh, I don't wanna impose on you…two."

Sun butted in at her reluctance. "Nah, sit down! Ow!" He rubbed his leg after Blake's boot had met his shin.

"Sun," Blake all but hissed his name.

He had some sense kicked into him, realising that he might have been coming on a little too strong. "Oh, I mean, only if you want to! You don't have to hang out with us."

"I'm confused," the woman moved her finger between Sun and Blake. "You two aren't…ya know?"

"Whoa, no, you're not third wheelin', if that's what you mean!" Sun jumped to deny, since he knew Blake would appreciate it. She really didn't like people assuming they were a couple – he'd learned that over the years. "We're here to find- OW! Blake!"

"Sorry," Blake deadpanned, "my foot slipped." She gave a small smile to the woman who was watching them with a questioning look. "You _can_ leave, but you're also welcome to sit with us. As you might have heard, the one with his foot in his mouth is Sun. I'm Blake."

A few moments passed. They were agony to Blake. As much as she didn't do the woman a favour just to get her phone number, she could still _hope_ , right?

"Actually, this is probably the best thing to happen to me all night," she scooted in next to Blake and it was suddenly like they were sitting in a tropical climate. "I'm Yang."

Yang was literally _hot_.

For the briefest of moments, Yang's thigh had touched hers when she sat down. In her stupor, Blake forgot to speak. Or do anything, really. Was she breathing?

"It's really nice to meet you! I was beginning to think Blake would stick to me forever and never socialise." Sun felt no need to grant mercy to his friend that had so easily kicked his legs under the table.

Maybe he would have some bruises, but, all was fair in love and war. If war was what it took to get Blake a date, he'd do it. She was just embarrassed, or nervous – he hadn't seen her like that in all the years they'd known each other.

"The pleasure is mine, believe me," Yang said, relaxing into the cushioned seat. Sun seemed likeable; a far cry better than other men she'd come across at this particular establishment. "I'm curious, though. How'd you know to come help me?"

Her question was directed at Blake, clearly. It was just that the arm of their new acquaintance had made itself at home draped behind Blake on the booth's edge. Yang had already made clear she wasn't into men, claimed Blake was her type, and it seemed she was now sending physical signals.

Yang was gay _and_ interested? Blake was honestly stunned – at her good luck, or just in general…it was hard to say. High chances were that it was both.

Sun laughed; a mischievous sound Blake could recognise even if she was dead asleep, bringing her attention back – but he had already answered for her. "She was spying on you!"

Blake felt her cheeks redden; maybe it was too dark to see, but she still covered her face with her hands. They had already established that she had been spying on Yang, but he didn't have to tell _her_ that.

"Don't worry about it, Blake." Yang's knee gently knocked against Blake's underneath the table; the cat Faunus finally shaking her shyness when she saw an easy-going smile directed at her. "I've never had someone pretend to know me to help me out, so, thanks again."

The least Blake could do was return the smile, and she did, but she was biting her lip at the same time because looking as beautiful and friendly as Yang did was _criminal_. They held each other's gaze longer than strictly necessary; Yang's smile morphing into a smirk.

"Do you deal guys like that a lot?" Sun asked, oblivious as ever.

Yang gave Blake a subtle wink before turning to Sun, shrugging. "Well, I used to deal with it in a more…" she brought her hands up, making air-quotes, " _aggressive manner_. Apparently, self-defence is aggressive, but, whatever. It's gotten worse since trying the whole polite approach. If I'm being nice, nobody notices I'm uncomfortable, or, it's because people look at me and assume that I enjoy it. Maybe I would, if it wasn't always just slime-balls staring at my boobs."

"Oh, I get it," Sun rubbed his chin, nodding before sipping from the straw in his tall glass; a surprisingly fruity drink. "They bug you that much, huh?"

Yang heaved a sigh. "It's like I need a flashing sign over my head that says _lesbian_ , or something."

Sun slowly put his glass down, eyes squinting as he appeared to have had trouble hearing the sarcastic remark.

Regaining her wits, Blake took her friend's place in the conversation, even more frustrated than she was before at the unsolicited attention that Yang garnered. "If someone can't understand the word _no_ , then I doubt a sign would help them all that much."

Yang thought that was hilarious, if her unbridled snort and subsequent snickering was anything to go by. Blake felt a pang of satisfaction; it was rare that people understood her sense of humour, as it was often interpreted as dry and unfriendly.

Sun eventually caught on to the situation, smiling widely. "Oh, _now_ I get it!" Ignoring the straw altogether, he downed his drink in a few gulps with a slight grimace. "Look at that, I'm empty! I think I'll go to the bar for another. Can I order you guys anything?"

"Well, since I'm not going to be tempted to punch a dude anymore, I'll take a _Strawberry Sunrise_ , no ice," Yang reached down to her back pocket, wiggling in her seat to dig out her wallet from tight black pants. "Oh! And a little umbrella, please," she added as she handed some lien to Sun.

Blake, on the other hand, had been thoroughly preoccupied by the display. They were a _very nice_ pair of pants, and there had been some definite contact on her thigh when Yang had moved. She couldn't bring herself to care that Yang might've done that deliberately.

"Blake?"

Snapping her mind out of the gutter was the person who put her there in the first place, the woman beginning to lean into her field of vision.

"Huh?" Blake's eloquent reply caused the blonde bombshell to grin a thousand-watt-smile.

"I said, can I buy you a drink? I feel like I owe you _something_ in return for your thoughtfulness."

If someone had told Blake that a simple word could send her mind spiralling into the gutter, she would have thought it impossible. Yet, here she was, seriously considering running to the nearest body of water and jumping in. Blake took a page from Sun's book and gulped down what was left of the drink she had left – she was hot _and_ thirsty, after all.

Yang tilted her head, waiting for an answer. She was still smiling away, innocent as ever, while Blake made a fool of herself.

"That's not really necessary, you don't have to-"

"It's the least I can do. Plus, it looks like you need it," Yang chuckled, pointing to the now empty glass.

"If you're sure?" Seeing Yang nod, she relented. It wasn't a big deal; just a drink. "I'll have my usual, Sun. With _extra_ ice," Blake tried her hardest to speak in a measured tone, but the end of her sentence came out with a lot more inflection than she wanted.

After taking more lien from their new friend, the monkey Faunus saluted with his tail before zipping away to the bar, Yang apparently finding some humour at the sight.

"I can imagine it's fun explaining things to him," the remaining blonde mentioned, having caught onto the problem that Blake often had with her friend.

"Fun is not the word I'd use," Blake began fiddling with her empty glass. "He grew up in Vacuo, and it's a very different culture there. As well as living for a time in Mistral, he finds Vale to be a little _confusing_."

"I hope he never has to go to Atlas, then," Yang cringed at the thought of the stories about snobby Atlesians she'd heard from her uncle.

Blake nodded. "Although, I think he'd be more worried about the climate than the people, to be honest."

"Fair enough. Um, he's not," Yang hesitated, her confident persona failing her for a moment. "Y'know, uncomfortable with…me?" Though Yang tried to put on a brave face, Blake could see her having trouble keeping her insecurities hidden. "As soon as I said, uh, _the L word_ , he got up and left."

"Oh! No, that's not it," Blake reassured the dejected woman before things could get worse. "Sun doesn't tend to get a good read on people, if you know what I mean?" She tried not call him stupid, because he wasn't. Her father called him dense, and her mother called him earnest, but Blake preferred socially inept. "He isn't the judging type, he just didn't quite catch onto your preference. I can assure you that he just wanted to do us a favour."

"Y'know, for a guy I just met, drinks and alone time with you is a pretty solid favour," Yang said, genuinely meaning it. It was almost too good to be true, if she thought about it for too long.

Blake felt her cheeks colour; Yang wanted to spend time with her – alone.

"Trust me, he's not coming back. I'm only here because he has appointed himself my wingman, and now his job is done. Not that he actually did anything," she couldn't bring herself to admit that she'd been too afraid to get Yang alone, so his leaving had at least forced the situation – but she had done most of the work!

"So, you're looking for trouble, then?" The blonde waggled her eyebrows ridiculously in a suggestive question.

"Define trouble," Blake went along with the question, curious herself. Maybe she _did_ want trouble.

"Well, first off. Men, women, either, both, I could go on. Pick your poison," Yang sounded like she was on a game-show; looking for clues to the answer of a _who am I_ question – and Blake was the _who_.

Hoping that that was only a preface to better things to come, the Faunus easily revealed her sexuality. "I think the most accurate answer is both, but I've been single for a while now."

"Seriously?"

Flattered that Yang didn't believe her, Blake briefly explained her past romances. After all, they had kind of ruined the whole dating scene for her. "Both my previous relationships ended on…bad terms. When I decided to move here from Menagerie a few years ago, my girlfriend was pretty upset. Then my friend-turned-boyfriend, well, turned out to be psychotic."

"Shit, Blake. Do you need me to give a message to anybody? I can be pretty scary, or so I've heard many guys say," Yang emphasised her point by flexing her left arm in front of her; patting the impressive muscle with her right hand.

It was nice that complete strangers were concerned about each other's safety. Blake had done the same kind of thing for Yang, in her own way.

Nonetheless, Blake shook her head no. "As far as I know, Ilia went on to better things, and Adam is in prison. I'd rather you not go anywhere near my exes for a plethora of reasons, but thank you."

"Don't mention it," Yang grinned, waving the thanks off. "I'm just glad I wasn't making moves on a straight girl."

"I _knew_ you were doing those things on purpose!" Blake felt slightly betrayed; she had been flustered the whole time, while Yang was enjoying her squirm.

"Sorry," Yang laughed briefly, a sound all four of Blake's ears enjoyed. "You've been getting my signals, then?"

Now that Yang had made an obvious move, Blake let herself flirt back. "Loud and clear," she smirked, throwing the blonde a sideways glance. It was easier now, because Yang's impatience told her that she wanted to pursue _something_.

"Cool," Yang shifted closer to her on the leather seat. "Because you're interesting, Blake, and I'm _really_ attracted to you."

This time, Blake's blush didn't adorn her cheeks. It was body heat; Yang's and her own, spreading up her back in waves and creeping up her neck. She hadn't felt this kind of hot in a long time.

"Your forwardness is charming, Yang."

Blake was seriously considering if it was _too_ forward of her to invite Yang to the backseat of her car.

* * *

 **A/N:** let me know if you're interested in a follow up and what you'd like to see happen (bang immediately or no bang? practice makes perfect [for my dirty bees writing, I mean])

thank


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